Meta: Shitpost Avoidance
Science shows that every other thread on this board is titled poorly or has some other basic shit wrong with it, which leads to about thirty replies not about the topic itself but about board norms and other matters of etiquette.
A suggestion to the powers that be: PUT THE (UNWRITTEN) RULES OF POSTING ON THE POST CREATION PAGE.
For example, by "Subject", put a short note about how to write a good subject.
By "Body", put a note about how to create content (how to add links, etc.).
Finally, I realize the irony in creating a shitty post about shitty posts. For this, my apologies.
Happy new year!
December 31st, 2020 at 9:54 AM ^
Why isn't this a diary?
December 31st, 2020 at 10:42 AM ^
Or a diarrhea.
December 31st, 2020 at 3:56 PM ^
For me the usual sequence is: dairy --> diarrhea --> diary (only if it's a really big one)
December 31st, 2020 at 4:31 PM ^
if it was a diary I would milk it for all it's worth.
December 31st, 2020 at 9:55 AM ^
Who gets to determine if it is a shitpost? If you dont like the post or disagree with opinion of post does it make it a shitpost? Confused on who gets to determine that. You?
December 31st, 2020 at 9:58 AM ^
Justin Feagin.
December 31st, 2020 at 9:58 AM ^
Bob decides
December 31st, 2020 at 9:59 AM ^
Yep, he's the arbiter of shitposts, apparently.
December 31st, 2020 at 10:02 AM ^
Stop questioning the experts, follow the science
December 31st, 2020 at 10:12 AM ^
She helps determine this clearly. I mean, look at my avatar and you can tell:
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In all seriousness though, if I thought people would read a Style Guide, I would write it and I am sure the other mods would agree perhaps, but people generally don't even read the Mod Sticky enough to take sufficient warning from those who have walked down the path which they might be walking down as they type.
December 31st, 2020 at 1:47 PM ^
Is the Style Guide in the same place where we post obituaries?
...asking for a friend
December 31st, 2020 at 1:59 PM ^
is the friend alive or dead?
December 31st, 2020 at 3:05 PM ^
Not sure... but he’s on a Wanted poster
December 31st, 2020 at 3:06 PM ^
Would the ability to edit an original post be doable, LSAClassOf2000?
December 31st, 2020 at 11:20 AM ^
oh, ffs. it’s about writing a non-shit post title with readable content, not about the content itself.
i mean, seriously. “big monetary loss in bowl game” is about...kyle trask playing like shit? and “crypto currency” is about... some nfl player getting his paycheck in crypto?
nobody is saying those posts shouldn’t exist, but a useful post title is really not too much to ask.
December 31st, 2020 at 12:35 PM ^
Now that i understand. Thank you
December 31st, 2020 at 1:28 PM ^
Thank you. I was too busy to read either of those posts when they went up, and now that I have a few minutes, I don't have to. I saw Trask in that game and (1) was able to form my own opinion and (2) don't think anyone else needs to see it because they also probably saw him and, as a member of this blog, are smart enough to form their own educated opinion ... or not.
December 31st, 2020 at 11:46 AM ^
Seems people on this blog have many unwritten rules to how to post and no matter how relevant a post might be if you don’t follow their ideas it’s a shit post
December 31st, 2020 at 1:15 PM ^
I think it's more that the board does not have a lot of patience for terrible posts. What makes for shit content is the execution.
If you're going to post about how Jim Harbaugh is looking at a job in the NFL, you're gonna get a bad response if you title the post "Harbaugh" and use some no-name bullshitter on twitter with 113 followers as your source.
However, if you title your post "Harbaugh is looking at the Lions per source with a decent track record" you're going to be a much better response.
(And no, I have no idea if Harbaugh is looking at the Lions or not. It's a completely hypothetical example, and at this point I would be surprised if Harbaugh went to the NFL after this season.)
December 31st, 2020 at 9:57 AM ^
Look dad, the only thing I do well is shitpost so I'm not going to stop
Na na nuh boo boo stick your head in doo doo
December 31st, 2020 at 10:00 AM ^
Get over yourself. Just STFU.
December 31st, 2020 at 10:01 AM ^
Get under myself!
December 31st, 2020 at 10:04 AM ^
If only I could.
December 31st, 2020 at 10:01 AM ^
OT: Dawn Wells died
December 31st, 2020 at 10:03 AM ^
The skipper was the best looking one on that island
December 31st, 2020 at 3:01 PM ^
I personally preferred Mary Ann to the Skipper - or to Ginger for that matter - but to each his own.
December 31st, 2020 at 10:06 AM ^
If 2020 has taught us anything it's that life isn't all rainbows and daisies. Sometimes you have to wade through a shit swamp to reach an oasis.
December 31st, 2020 at 10:10 AM ^
Comments not on topic are dropped to the bottom. At least for the first 15-20 comments.
Posts that use the word "shit" because the author knows no specific nouns are unacceptable.
December 31st, 2020 at 10:13 AM ^
I thought this was 'Nam.
December 31st, 2020 at 10:15 AM ^
Thank you for the in-service.
A great way to end the year.
December 31st, 2020 at 10:16 AM ^
"What is your primary malfunction?"
December 31st, 2020 at 10:15 AM ^
If every other post is flawed, I see two options:
1) Focus on the flawed posts and spend your time explaining why they're wrong and you're right,
OR
2) Skip the posts that are flawed, and devote your energy to only the best and brightest.
December 31st, 2020 at 10:17 AM ^
Up yours elitist!
December 31st, 2020 at 11:28 AM ^
What would you put up where? And why?
Maybe my comment wasn't clear. I was being sarcastic, suggesting that the OP was being elitist, judging everyone else's post and insisting on his rules for the rest of us.
December 31st, 2020 at 11:29 AM ^
3) Skip MGoBlog entirely.
December 31st, 2020 at 10:20 AM ^
Old timers request that you raise the point threshold to 5,000 or something.
December 31st, 2020 at 10:46 AM ^
Hey, Judge! Let's make it 80,000!
December 31st, 2020 at 10:22 AM ^
Does this really bother people that much? Shitty post, keep moving. I avoid most shit on this board. It's not that hard.
December 31st, 2020 at 10:23 AM ^
Not sure why this post is getting shit on like it is. The OP didn't call out any specific posts (IE- is not claiming to be the one and only arbiter of shit-posts) and offered a reasonable, general solution in an attempt to reduce bad posts. Why is this a problem? OP even labeled it "META."
December 31st, 2020 at 10:35 AM ^
I actually agree that a short reminder about titles by the Subject on the post form is a good idea. It’s the most visible thing, and even people skipping over it have to see it.
But you don’t want too much content on the form, because people definitely won’t read it. Many won’t even read the short, specific note. But it might make a marginal improvement. If there were enough traffic and interest, A-B testing could see if a brief note improves titles or increases/reduces people’s likelihood to post.
Don’t forget that adding text could clutter the posting experience on mobile.
December 31st, 2020 at 10:23 AM ^
As a writing professor, a majority of students suck at writing titles for their papers. Even when we go over title writing ad nauseam, they still lack the understanding of basic rhetoric. Here, perhaps it is because people are in a rush, like students, to get their content out before someone else does (due date v. "first" dibs).
As a writer with editor friends, and as a former editor, even other writers have some shit titles they try to submit for publication.
I admire the complaints. Yet, we're strapped in a small hamster wheel.
Happy New Year to all.
December 31st, 2020 at 11:25 AM ^
Trapped in a small hamster wheel feels like a great title to a book of Michigan sports fan hood. May I suggest the wheel be added to the banner?
Happy New Year!
December 31st, 2020 at 12:36 PM ^
Well there's your problem right there: the majority of students are not a writing professor!
Sorry, had to tweak you there for using incorrect grammar while complaining about incorrect grammar.
(To demystify: the opening phrase "As a writing professor" properly refers to the first subject following the phrase, to wit "a majority of students." This rule is broken so often in both spoken and written English that I doubt many people ever learned it in the first place. As the odd engineer who somehow ended up in a John Rubadeau course, I am lucky to have been shown the errors of my own ways; I am now happy to pay it forward in the form of obnoxious message board pedantry. #TheMichiganDifference)
December 31st, 2020 at 1:50 PM ^
Second paragraph had the same flaw. Thank you for pointing this out. I feel less alone.
December 31st, 2020 at 1:53 PM ^
Cite to Strunk & White...or it didn't happen.
December 31st, 2020 at 2:22 PM ^
Ask and ye shall receive! Strunk and White, The Elements of Style, page 13:
7. A participial phrase at the beginning of a sentence must refer to the grammatical subject.
Walking slowly down the road, he saw a woman accompanied by two children.
The word walking refers to the subject of the sentence, not to the woman. If the writer wishes to make it refer to the woman, he must recast the sentence:
He saw a woman accompanied by two children, walking slowly down the road.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/37134/37134-h/37134-h.htm#Rule_7
December 31st, 2020 at 10:27 AM ^
I love seeing OPs get roasted in shitposts so I say keep them coming
December 31st, 2020 at 10:44 AM ^
The best posts are the ones that have unintentional subject misspellings that turn into several year board memes ala "Moms delete".
December 31st, 2020 at 10:50 AM ^
I haven’t seen Moms delete in awhile, thanks for the reminder.